Digital Cipher No. 10

I. Music & Tech

Audio Creators Rejoice : The SoundCloud Rescue

SoundCloud’s battle of attrition was extended last week after the company secured a $170 million dollar investment from The Raine Group and the Singapore-based firm, Temasek. Under the terms of the agreement current CEO, Alex Ljung will step down to serve as chairman of the board and be replaced by former Vimeo CEO, Kerry Trainor. While the company managed to escape what seemed to be their imminent demise, there is no mention of the expected runway for the $170 million. As the streaming space continues to evolve SoundCloud has to act fast to salvage its current database of users and generate revenue. Read more here.

TuneIn Raises $50 Million to Prove the Promise of Online Radio

TuneIn, a San Francisco based online radio company boasting 75 million active users raised $50 million last week to fund their growing portfolio of programming. They plan on using the money to pay for the rights to live sports events and original programming like podcasts and music shows. Since the inception of their paid listening model two years ago, the company has been looking to grow their available content to rival paid services like Sirius XM – the dominant player in the space. Check out the details of the deal here.

II. Entrepreneurship

Tyler, the Creator Exploring, Learning, and Creating – As Creators Should

Before solidifying himself as hip hop main stay and running with the likes of Pharrell, Tyler, the Creator had to seize his opportunity as the frontman for Odd Future – and so he did. Now, thanks to his authenticity and execution he continues to make strides in terms of redefining the boundaries of what an artist “does”. One of his latest ventures is “Nuts and Bolts”, a show he produced with Vice showing him step outside of music and into the exploratory role of “student”. While this may sound fairly one dimensional, it is anything but. The entire show is Tyler literally learning first hand, “how everything he thinks is awesome is made”, from the industry experts that make them. Check out the first episode where Tyler learns the intricacies of stop motion films and creates his own – Nuts and Bolts : Episode 1.